Chapter 3.3 - The role of the father Flashcards
What is meant by father in attachment research?
Anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver, this can be but is not necessarily the biological father
What is the difference between a primary caregiver and a primary attachment figure?
A primary caregiver is the person who spends the most time with the baby whereas a primary attachment figure is the person to whom the baby has the strongest attachment
- Can be but not always the same person
What does research about attachment to fathers say?
- Schaffer and Emerson found that the majority of babies first became attached to their mother
- 3% of babies had their father as their first attachment
- 27% of babies had both mother and father as their sole attachment
- 75% of babies formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months-> protests when father walked away
What does research about distinctive role for fathers?
- Longitudinal study where babies’ attachment were studied until they were into their teens
- Parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their baby’s later attachments were observed
- Links made from the quality of a baby’s attachment with mothers to them in adolescence
- Attachment to fathers is less important than mothers
- HOWEVER: quality of fathers play
-> distinctive role, to do with play and stimulation rather than emotional development
What does research about fathers as primary attachment figures?
- A baby’s relationship with their primary attachment figure forms the basis of all later close emotional relationships
- When fathers take on the role as primary caregiver, they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers
- 4 month babies and primary caregiver mothers/fathers and secondary caregiver fathers
- PCGF spent more time smiling, imitating, and holding babies than the SCGF
-> reciprocity and interactional synchrony - Fathers have the potential to be the more emotion-focused primary attachment figure, perhaps only when given the role of primary caregiver
What is a limitation of the research into the role of the father? (confusion over research questions)
- Some researchers want to understand the role of fathers in terms of them being a primary attachment figure and some as a secondary attachment figure
- SAF: different behaviour from mothers and have a distinct role
- PAF: can take on a maternal role
- Difficult to offer a simple answer as it depends on the role being quesitoned
What is a limitation of the research into the role of the father? (conflicting evidence)
- Longitudinal studies suggest that fathers as SAF have an important and distinct role in their child’s development
- Distinct = children brought up in single-mother or lesbian-parent families would develop differently compared to two parent heterosexual families
- Studies have shown that children do not develop differently
What is a counterpoint of the research into the role of the father? (conflicting evidence)
- Fathers take on a distinct role in two parents heterosexual families
- Parents in single-mother and lesbian-parent families adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers
- When present fathers have a distinct role
- When not present, families can adapt
What is a strength of the research into the role of the father? (real-world application)
- Used to offer advice to parents, who should take on the primary caregiver role
- Used to offer reassuring advice for fathers, lesbian-parent families, and single-mother families
- Parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced
What is another evaluation point of the research into the role of the father? (bias)
- Preconceptions about the behaviour of fathers created by stereotypes through advertising can cause unintentional observer bias
- Observers see what they expect to see rather than recording objective reality
